Anna’s first Train Ride

A couple of weeks ago I had to go to the city to run some errands and decided on going by train and taking Anna along, so she can finally experience a different way of traveling. I knew she’d be scared when the train arrives, so I kneeled down and held her tight by her chest. I had to lift her over the small gap into the train but once inside, she soon got very curious and sniffed out the floor, seats and small bins attached to the walls.
Anna watched the world go by at the window and I think the speed made her a little nervous. Then her nose would distract her and she was quickly absorbed in the world of smells again. 

anna golden retriever train zug  IMG_1737

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Once we arrived at the train station in Magdeburg a lot of people rushed past. Anna was quite nervous, so I made her sit down and watch everything for a while. She would stretch her nose out after people’s hands and bags and sometimes try and follow them.

When I exchanged some money at the counter, she’d play-growl at some people and occasionally throw herself on the floor, belly up and play with her leash. It made me laugh, she’s such a goof!
This was definitely an important experience for my little puppy and I know we have to keep going to places with a lot of people as she isn’t too comfortable with crowds yet.

Snow Wolf

There was more snow in Germany and I decided to take along my Canon 40D for some quick action shots with Anna in the forest.
Once again I realized, my little girl is actually very much showing wolf body language and behavior while she’s out and about. She will leave the tracks to follow smells of other animals and sometimes I can see her holding her head low, like a wolf. Then the movement of her shoulder blades and the muscles around them are more visible.
In fact this time she dug up blood under the fresh layer of snow. Maybe a fox killed a rabbit or a bird right here? Only Anna will know with her incredible sense of smell. I often wish, I could smell as well as a dog, it would be fantastic!

Anna Golden Retriever Snow Forest Wolf Collage

Anna enjoys the fluffy fresh snow very much and gets endless energy bursts out there. Running, jumping, rolling, play-barks, digging, anything that is fun and keeps the body temperature up.

Anna Forest Shooting Action Collage

And a few calm moments of attention:

Anna Snow Forest Shooting Collage

Cross-Country Skiing

When the first snow fell in Germany, we couldn’t wait to open the door to present Anna with a whole new world: The world of white fluffy snow! The first few steps were careful and full of surprise, then suddenly, she started running and jumping across the garden, sliding through the snow on her chin, while her hind legs were still running. Snow! Such a great element!

I decided to get my cross-country skis out and take Anna through the forest on skis. She was a little excited about those things under my feet, that would glide on the snow. She play-barked at them a couple of times and tried to stop me but then she got used to it and quite enjoyed the faster pace I was going through the white forest with her.

golden retriever skiing

The Tooth Fairy

During the last two weeks, Anna (now 4 months old) has lost some of her teeth and the new ones are now already coming out.
We are very lucky to say that she hasn’t destroyed anything in the house yet. She didn’t chew any shoes or furniture like a lot of dogs do when they are teething.
Instead the tooth fairy is bringing Anna a variety of toys to chew on.  

IMG_1710   Anna Teething

St. Nicholas Day

So today is St. Nicholas Day. Usually the night before St. Nicholas Day, children have to clean their boots and then at night, St. Nicholas will come and put chocolate or small presents inside the boots.
Since Anna hasn’t got any boots, St. Nicholas performed a bit of magic and surprised her with more of that much loved snow! Excited we went for a forest walk together, stalking wild boar and following rabbit tracks. My fearless golden wolf even climbed up a stack of logs to get a better view over the forest. 

Collage Nikolaus

See the lovely new blue collar, I got her? It’s her winter themed collar from 10.000 Dogs.com. It’s gorgeous!

So Anna says:

Anna St Nicholas

The first Snow

“What’s thaaaat?” – She would have said, if I translated her body posture into human language. When I let Anna out this morning, she was a little confused about the cold white powder on the ground. After the first few delicate steps, all of a sudden she shuffled her nose through that newly discovered element and ran through the garden like crazy and full of joy!

A little later that day, I took her into the forest:

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Back at home, we lit the fire in the living room. That’s the way…

Anna fire oven golden retriever

And guess whose eyes are getting bigger and bigger and whose nostrils are fluttering at the chicken liver?
(She’s so cute when she gets impatient about her dinner!)

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Just a little fun update of Anna’s wonderful puppy world

Anna:
Getting muddy, …dressing up,

Anna Golden Retriever Matsch Mud   Anna comic figure golden retriever

…sleeping (sometimes in awkward positions),

Anna sleeping   anna golden retriever puppy sleeping funny pose

…and getting muddy again; smelling wild boar here.

Anna golden retriever in the forest

Video of Anna playing at Puppy Play School

Glowing in the dark

December. It is winter in Germany and for the most part of the day the northern hemisphere is cloaked in darkness.
Anna and I still spend a lot of time outside and roam the forests together, no matter what conditions the day might bring us. To make it easier for me to keep track of her while she sometimes disappears in the woods, I got her a glowing LED collar. You know, there are really expensive ones of 40 dollars and more, I only bought a cheap one as I assume it to break sooner or later anyway. She is a retriever. Retrievers love water. LED collars don’t.
The 10 Dollar collar is doing a great job. When it’s really dark, all I can see is the red light dashing from right to left and back to me.
I love it!

golden retriever blink glow collar